International Ass'n of Fire Fighters v. City of Palo Alto

PETERS, J. Defendants have appealed from a judgment ordering issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate and dismissing their cross-complaint for declaratory relief.1 By that judgment the trial court ordered defendants (a chartered [298]city, and its mayor, city manager, council members and fire chief) to grant plaintiffs (an unincorporated union—all of the members of which are employees of defendant city’s fire department—and its duly appointed representative) the right of self-organization and the right to “present grievances and recommendations regarding wages, salaries, hours and working conditions to the governing body of the Fire Department and to discuss the same with such governing body through such organizations.” Defendants were further ordered to vacate and set aside certain policies, rules and regulations that will hereafter be mentioned.

Insofar as the judgment is predicated upon the constitutionality of Labor Code sections 1960 through 1963, and their applicability to a chartered city, the issues herein are identical to those discussed in the companion case of Professional Fire Fighters, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, L. A. 27007, decided this day, ante, page 276 [32 Cal.Rptr. 830, 384 P.2d 158]. The same is true of the determination that mandate is a proper form of relief herein. The rules announced in that opinion are controlling here, and need not be repeated. The judgment in the instant case should be affirmed for all the reasons set forth as justification for reversal in the Los Angeles ease.

There are, however, certain minor distinctions in the two eases, and the judgment herein contains certain language which should be modified. Those matters require further discussion.

The plaintiff union in this case is an unincorporated association, whereas its counterpart in Los Angeles was incorporated. The individual plaintiff in each case was both a union representative and an employee of defendant city’s fire department. Until recently, the fact that plaintiff union is unincorporated might have been urged as a basis for denying the union the right to sue on behalf of the class it is alleged to represent. Such contention is no longer available. (Daniels v. Sanitarium Assn., Inc., 59 Cal.2d 602 [30 Cal.Rptr. 828, 381 P.2d 652]; Marshall v. International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union, 57 Cal.2d 781 [22 Cal.Rptr. 211, 371 P.2d 987].) But defendants also urge that plaintiffs’ capacity to sue (that is, their requisite beneficial interest in the cause of action) was made an issue of fact by reason of their answer which included a general denial of all of the facts pleaded in the petition for writ of mandate. They contend